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“There are over 20,000 injuries each year that require medical care from children riding in shopping carts,” said Michael Chamberlain, as he spoke about his product, the Baby Ride Along. “This is a much more safe and convenient way to shop with an infant.”

Chamberlain, parent of five children and math teacher at Winchester’s Phoenix Academy, went through multiple prototypes finding a way to shop safe with an infant. Now, his Baby Ride Along is ready and is undergoing a current funding campaign on the website Kickstarter.

“It’s a product that is used to connect an infant car seat to a shopping cart so you don’t have to actually put the seat into the cart,” explained Chamberlain.

The Baby Ride Along is a leather clasp that attaches an infant car seat to the back of a shopping cart. The included gear tie helps keep the child secure to the cart. The product was tested by Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services, Inc., a United States Consumer Product and Safety Commission approved testing site, and it was found the Baby Ride Along supports up to 180 pounds.

Chamberlain explains the process behind the Baby Ride Along development:

“I tried a few different things to see what would work. First thing I did was cut out a big piece of wood in a c-shape that allowed the infant car seat to hang from the shopping cart. The function was there. Then I tried rings that you’d attach to a shower rod. That one worked as well, but it didn’t support as much weight. So then I bought some dog collars and dog leashes and different clasps to piece them together to make the prototype of what it is now.”

The Kickstarter campaign for the product has a listed goal of $500, which was surpassed by the time of writing. That money is going toward the production of the first batch of 2,000 Baby Ride Along products. While the funding goal had been met, donations will still be accepted, with those who pledge $20 or more to receive the Baby Ride Along in August – a month before its official September release.

Those looking to donate to the project can find the Kickstarter campaign at www.kickstarter.com/projects/babyridealong/baby-ride-along.

Once the product is released, it can be purchased on babyridealong.com for $24.